[Is Hogwarts Still Safe? Concerned Parents' Petition Already Has 163 Signatures!]
[The Greatest Headmaster? Dumbledore Accused of Sheltering the Attacker, Blocks Aurors from Entering School!]
[A Nest of Darkness? The Half-Giant Who Killed a Girl in 1943 Still Roams the Castle!]
Halloween ended in complete chaos.
The next morning, a flock of owls flooded into the Great Hall, dropping copies of the Daily Prophet from above.
Dawn casually glanced at the paper and saw three or four headlines printed in bold.
He reached out to grab a copy that had landed on the table.
Another Ravenclaw student had reached for the same paper but quickly pulled back and shuffled away, tray in hand.
Hogwarts had no secrets. What happened last night was already known to everyone.
Especially with the Daily Prophet twisting the narrative, Dawn's image had now plummeted into that of a violent monster.
He wasn't concerned with that. He unfolded the paper and began to read.
On the front page, there was a large photograph featuring Dumbledore and the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
Whoever had taken the photo had done a masterful job—Dumbledore's face looked stern, and Fudge's gaze held unyielding determination.
The article claimed that Dumbledore had gone to the Ministry early that morning and pressured the Minister to let him handle the situation personally.
Dawn felt a twinge of emotion, but more than anything, a heavy weight settled in his chest.
Back when they first met, Dumbledore had said it clearly—Dawn did have an arrogant tendency to look down on others.
And now?
Now he was forced to hide under the protection of that same old headmaster.
It was humiliating.
A kind of shame that burned all the way down to his soul.
He closed his eyes, suppressing the fury building behind them.
He forced the anger down and kept reading. The interview column beneath the photo was written by none other than Rita Skeeter.
[Shocking Attack! The Boy Who Lived, Our Savior, Was Nearly Murdered in the Castle Yesterday!]
The article was accompanied by a photo of a pale-faced Harry lying unconscious in bed, with a close-up shot of his injured neck.
[I was horrified by the news. I rushed to Hogwarts to uncover the truth.
According to insider accounts, the attacker was a student named Dawn Richter.
He was supposedly in love with a girl named Hermione Granger, and in a fit of jealousy, tried to eliminate his romantic rival!]
Below that was a photo of Hermione looking distressed at Harry's bedside.
"This is outrageous! Completely baseless! How can something like this even be published in the Daily Prophet?!"
Hermione's furious voice echoed faintly from the Gryffindor table.
Dawn, familiar with Rita Skeeter's style, simply snorted and read on.
[Dawn Richter, based on my investigation, is a wizard both ruthless and cunning—and at the same time, incredibly foolish.
Ruthless and cunning, because he used the Cruciatus Curse to control an innocent classmate to shift suspicion away from himself.
But also foolish—because he insisted on using his own face to deliver a 'lesson' to his rival, hoping that the very irrationality of it would serve as an alibi.
In the end, as everyone has seen, justice was served. Richter is caught in his own web!
The only question remaining is—was Dumbledore protecting a criminal?]
The rest of the article was similar—fabricated accounts of Dawn's daily life at Hogwarts, painting him as a dangerous lunatic.
He read through it all.
There were another five or six articles in total, but every one—whether directly, indirectly, or by implication—framed Dawn as the culprit.
The hall grew noisier by the second.
Dawn could feel the stares aimed at him from every direction. An entire section of space had been cleared around his seat.
If this was the sentiment inside Hogwarts, the reactions outside would surely be even more intense.
"…So this is Voldemort's plan?"
Dawn narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
This level of coordination in the press couldn't have happened naturally—someone was pulling the strings. With Avery's involvement, the mastermind wasn't hard to guess.
So—
Was Voldemort's grand strategy simply to drag the Avery heir into this mess?
Suddenly, it all became clear to Dawn.
The framing was full of holes. It wasn't about the crime—it was about using the power of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
He flipped the paper over with a frown.
And immediately spotted a familiar name.
[Lucius Malfoy Calls for Board of Governors to Expel Dangerous Element from the School!
No action in this world comes without a price.
Dawn had acted recklessly at Hogwarts. Burning Draco's clothes without a second thought…]
Now came Malfoy's well-timed retribution.
It was fair.
Dawn didn't feel wronged.
But one thing puzzled him—was Voldemort's goal really just to get him expelled?
That would make some sense.
After all, within Hogwarts, Dumbledore was watching. Outside the school, it would be easier for Voldemort to reach him—and take the Horcrux he carried.
But…
Why was Voldemort so sure he'd be expelled?
Tom Riddle knew Dumbledore well. The setup was flimsy. It was clear he'd been framed. The old headmaster would definitely protect him.
So what was the real plan?
Maybe this wasn't about the Horcrux at all. Maybe this wasn't a plan at all—but just something Voldemort did on a whim?
Dawn chewed his steak slowly, folded the paper, and set it aside.
Then another troubling question crossed his mind—
How did Voldemort leave Quirrell's body?!
In the original timeline, if he'd been capable of that, he'd have done it long ago.
So this massive deviation from the source… It must have been caused by something he had done.
Some butterfly effect.
But which one?
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